Tod Button is an interesting cat. Hired in 97(?), promoted to head scout in 2001 (nepotism!)
Flames prospect pool had been... not very good for a good chunk of his tenure, especially pre-2010. Particularly in the first round (Pelech, Neimisz, Irving, etc). But he did find some gems here and there with later picks.
I assume the guy has kept his job for so long because of quotes like the one above. He wanted Kucherov, and they didn't get him, but look at him now. Maybe it was documented that he wanted Schneider (not Chucko), Neal (not Pelech), Neuvirth (not Irving), etc, but his GMs overruled him. How else does he keep his job for so long through multiple GMs when our prospect pool was completely abysmal?
Maybe GMs meddle in the early picks and he had more leeway in later rounds, since he has done quite well there (Brodie, Bouma, Ortio, Pardy, etc). Seems like he was really given the reins during Feaster's reign and the Flames' drafting since then has been much better, even putting aside "easy" picks like Monahan and Bennett.
An out-of-the-park grand slam like Gaudreau certainly makes him look like a genius and his 2011 draft in general was A++. Excited to see what gems he has found in the recent drafts.
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